Arab News, Wednesday, Jan 25, 2023 | Rajab 3, 1444
Real Estate Development Fund deposits $243m in Sakani accounts to further boost Saudi housing goals
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia’s Real Estate Development Fund
deposited SR912 million ($243 million) in the accounts of Sakani beneficiaries
in January 2023.
According to a Saudi Press Agency report, this
deposit – which also comes from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and
Housing – is in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals which aim to provide
adequate housing opportunities for Saudi families.
Mansour bin Madi, CEO of REDF said that the
deposit of SR912 million is allocated to support subsidized real estate
financing contracts.
Madi further pointed out that the total amount
deposited in the accounts of Sakani beneficiaries since the announcement of the
transformation program in June 2017 until January 2023, exceeded SR44.7
billion.
The Ministry of Housing and the Real Estate
Development Fund launched the Sakani program in 2017, ultimately aimed at
increasing the proportion of Saudi households that own a house to 70 percent by
2030.
More than 1.6 million Saudi nationals were on
waiting lists for government housing programs, which led to the development of
the “Housing Program” in 2018, launched with the objective of increasing access
for Saudi families to suitable housing.
Madi added that since the launch of the Sakani
program, REDF has enabled more than 684,000 families in the Kingdom to own their
own housing.
Earlier in December, REDF and Riyadh-based
mortgage lender Bidaya Home Finance signed an agreement to provide affordable
housing and financing solutions to real estate financial institutions and
firms.
Saudi Arabia’s housing demand stood at 99,600
houses in 2021 and is expected to increase by more than 50 percent to reach
153,000 houses by 2030.
Meanwhile, on Jan. 23, Majid Al-Hogail, the Saudi
minister of housing and municipal and rural affairs, launched the National
Housing Co.’s new online platform for the purchase of building materials.
The platform is designed to connect contractors
and real estate developers with suppliers of building materials approved by the
NHC, SPA reported.
According to the report, the platform will offer
access to a variety of building materials at reduced prices with the aim of
increasing efficiency in production, lowering the cost of housing units and
increasing home ownership.